dishes, not drama

Crumb Topped Cranberry Cake

Now that fall is finally here, I don’t ever want to be without it again. The summer was hard on me–really hard. I seriously would not care if summer ended on July 5 every year. Autumn took it’s sweet time getting here, but now that it has arrived, I’m starting to cheer up. I’m even baking a little.

I saw this cake in a Taste of Home cookbook the other day, and thought it looked perfect to celebrate the arrival of cooler weather. It’s definitely not a very sweet cake. I think it would be more appropriate to call it coffee cake. I can totally see this being eaten on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning with a cup of coffee.

I have slightly adapted the recipe by using a whole can of cranberry sauce (the original recipe called for just 1 cup and what am I going to do with the 2 tablespoons or so left in the can?) and adding a lemon glaze. I used bottled lemon juice, but next time I would add fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in the glaze to make it really pop. Or…orange juice and zest. That would be delicious also. Maybe even better.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and soda; cut in 3 ounces cream cheese until mixture resembles fine crumbs. In another bowl, whisk 1 egg, the milk and oil; stir into the crumb mixture just until moistened. Spread batter into a greased and floured 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the remaining cream cheese with the vanilla and remaining egg. Carefully spread over batter. Sprinkle with coconut and dollop with the cranberry sauce.

In another small bowl, combine the flour and sugar for the topping, then cut in the cold butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen from sides and remove the metal rim. Whisk together all the ingredients for the glaze until smooth, using as much lemon juice as needed for a drizzling consistency. Drizzle across the top and the sides of the cake. Cool completely before cutting.